Power System Protection in Future Smart Grids: Achieving Reliable Operation with Renewable Energy, Electric Vehicles, and Distributed Generation

Power System Protection in Future Smart Grids: Achieving Reliable Operation with Renewable Energy, Electric Vehicles and Distributed Generation demonstrates how to protect smart, highly renewable, and highly distributed power systems with state-of-the-art methods rooted in adaptive protection and dynamic response, and based on continuous communication. Focusing on the implementation of novel protection schemes, each chapter presents solutions accompanied by figurative elements and demonstrator codes in MATLAB, C, Python and Java. Chapters address active distribution networks, hybrid microgrids, EVs and inverters on fault levels, adaptive protection systems, dynamic protection strategies, and Hardware in the Loop (HiL) approaches.

• Demonstrates how to mitigate the numerous unanticipated protection consequences of smarter grids and smarter grid equipment
• Focuses on providing communication-based solutions and power hardware in the loop modeling for integration of novel devices
• Emphasizes the importance of automation, communication, and cybersecurity in future protection systems
• Fully supported with modern demonstrator coding in MATLAB, C, Python, and Java

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Aug 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9780323972659

Book preview

Chapter 1

Introduction

Taha Selim Ustun,    Smart Grid Cybersecurity Laboratory, Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Koriyama, Japan

Abstract

Power systems have been undergoing a great transformation for the past several decades. Although they have been operated with very few changes since their inception in the early 20th century, recent developments in the communication and control domain, as well as the renewable energy revolution, made it inevitable to implement a wide-scale modernization in power systems. This would not only include how the measurements are made or transmitted to control centers but also how power is essentially generated and injected into the systems. Distributed generators, which are smaller than traditional synchronous generators, cause stability issues that are related to their relatively smaller inertia. Automatic generation control schemes that have been operating seamlessly for decades with large-scale synchronous generators cannot accommodate distributed generators without significant changes in control approaches. Furthermore, such distributed generators are almost always embedded in distribution networks, which are initially designed to accommodate loads. Until the introduction of distributed generators, it has been the common practice to have a clear distinction between generation, transmission, and distribution or consumption of electrical energy in the grid.

Keywords

Power systems; electrical energy; virtual synchronous generators; low inertia systems; direct current; alternating current; IEC 61850 standard

Power systems have been undergoing a great transformation for the past several decades. Although they have been operated with very few changes since their inception in the early 20th century, recent developments in the communication and control domain, as well as the renewable energy revolution made, it inevitable to implement a wide-scale modernization in power systems. This would not only include how the measurements are made or transmitted to control centers but also how power is essentially generated and injected into the system [1]. Distributed generators, which are smaller than traditional synchronous generators, cause stability issues that are related to their relatively smaller inertia [2]. Automatic generation control schemes that have been operating seamlessly for decades with large-scale synchronous generators cannot accommodate distributed generators without significant changes in control approaches [3]. Furthermore, such distributed generators are almost always embedded in distribution networks, which are initially designed to accommodate loads [4]. Until the introduction of distributed generators, it has been the common practice of having a clear distinction between generation, transmission and distribution or consumption of electrical energy in the grid [5].

Doubtlessly, one of the most affected fields of expertise by these changes is the power system protection [6]. Widely regarded as an art as much as a science by power system engineers, the protection of modern power systems became more complex with these unprecedented challenges. It is not safer anymore to assume that power flow in the electrical grid is unidirectional; hence, protection needs to consider bidirectional flows [7]. It is not clear which generators, large-scale and/or distributed, will contribute to the fault current in case of a failure at a particular location. The majority of the distributed generators are fed by renewable energy sources, which are intermittent and not dispatchable. The same grid setup with similar components may yield different fault currents at different times, and may, thus need different protection approaches [8].

In addition to these, there are novel devices and technologies used in power systems [9,10]. Battery energy storage systems are more widely used [11]. They have the ability to both receive or provide electrical energy, which makes it more difficult to estimate the direction and magnitude of the fault current. In line with efforts toward making the transportation sector cleaner and more environment friendly, the number of electric vehicles is steadily increasing [12]. The use of direct current (DC) devices inside alternating current (AC) systems has also increased and added to the complexity of protection challenges [13]. In some applications, isolated DC microgrids are deployed in marine systems, stand-alone energy systems, or high-voltage DC systems, and these require completely new protection approaches [14].

In short, the protection of modern power systems is fundamentally and substantially different from the protection approaches that have been used for the better part of the last century [15]. Small fixes are not sufficient, and a full restructuring of the power system protection field is required. Researchers have been working on developing new approaches, systems, and schemes to address that need. Considering the dynamic and interactive nature of modern power systems, most of the novel protection solutions incorporate extensive communication between power system components. This kind of wide-scale connectivity is new to the power systems domain and opens the door to many cybersecurity vulnerabilities [16–18]. Some of these have been successfully used in real life to perform attacks on the power system infrastructures of other nations. Consequently, cybersecurity in power systems has become an inseparable part of holistic power system protection considerations [19,20].

This book is intended to address the pressing need in this field. It presents novel challenges pertaining to the field and the novel solution approaches put forth by researchers. In this regard, Chapter 2 presents wide-area power system protection in smart grids where protection is not limited to a certain area. A wide area is designated as the target area, and different components present therein are considered at all steps of power generation, flow, and delivery. Chapter 3 focuses on out-of-step protection, which is used to ensure disturbances in the power system do not cause loss of synchronism for some generators. Chapter 4 depicts how novel techniques, such as machine learning, can be used to enhance the safety of power systems. Machine learning can be used to track and learn the normal behavior of modern power systems and distinguish it from faulty conditions.

Chapter 5 details how the operation of overcurrent relays can be optimized in the face of changing fault levels and constantly varying fault currents. These issues are largely caused by the introduction of distributed generators that are fed by renewable energy resources. Another big challenge associated with this is the unintentional islanding of a portion of a power system. Relevant discussions and how this can be mitigated with the help of phasor measurement units are given in Chapter 6.

Chapter 7 is related to the use of extensive communication in modern power system protection. Since there are many devices that play a role in the safe operation of a power system, a common language is needed to be established. The use of the IEC 61850 standard to establish an adaptive protection approach is presented. Furthermore, cybersecurity issues related to using such a communication standard in a critical infrastructure are discussed. Several novel approaches to mitigate these vulnerabilities are also studied.

Chapter 8 gives an extensive review of testing and evaluation methods for protection systems. It develops the discussions along with practical examples that are implemented around the globe. Practical discussions presented herein are especially valuable for protection engineers that are testing and deploying new technologies.

Finally, Chapter 9 presents protection challenges associated with DC Microgrids, which are expected to be more common in the future.

It is our wish that this book helps students, academicians, and engineers to better understand changes that are taking place in the power system domain. Only in this way can we ensure the safe and reliable operation of future smart grids while new technologies are constantly introduced, and the penetration of clean energy sources is accommodated.

References

1. T.S. Ustun, Design and Development of a Communication-Assisted Microgrid Protection System, (Doctoral dissertation), Victoria University, 2013.

2. Hashimoto J, et al. Advanced Grid Integration Test Platform for Increased Distributed Renewable Energy Penetration in Smart Grids. 9 IEEE Access 2021;34040–34053.

3. Ustun TS, Hussain SS, Orihara D, Iioka D. IEC 61850 modeling of an AGC dispatching scheme for mitigation of short-term power flow variations. Energy Rep. 2022;8:381–391.

4. Nadeem F, et al. Virtual power plant management in smart grids with XMPP based IEC 61850 communication. Energies. 2019;12(12):2398.

5. Ustun TS, Ozansoy C, Zayegh A. Distributed energy resources (DER) object modeling with IEC 61850–7–420. AUPEC 2011 IEEE 2011;1–6.

6. T.S. Ustun, O. Cagil, A. Zayegh, Extending IEC 61850-7-420 for distributed generators with fault current limiters, in: Proceedings of the IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies, 2011, pp. 1–8.

7. T.S. Ustun, C. Ozansoy, A. Zayegh, Implementation of Dijkstra’s algorithm in a dynamic microgrid for relay hierarchy detection, in: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm). IEEE, 2011, October, pp. 481–486.

8. T.S. Ustun, C. Ozansoy, A. Zayegh. Simulation of communication infrastructure of a centralized microgrid protection system based on IEC 61850-7-420, in: Proceedings of the IEEE Third International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), IEEE, 2012, November, pp. 492–497.

9. Ustun TS, Sugahara S, Suzuki M, Hashimoto J, Otani K. Power hardware in-the-loop testing to analyze fault behavior of smart inverters in distribution networks. Sustainability. 2020;12(22):9365.

10. T.S. Ustun, Cybersecurity vulnerabilities of smart inverters and their impacts on power system operation, in: Proceedings of the International Conference on Power Electronics, Control and Automation (ICPECA), IEEE, 2019.

11. Chakraborty MR, et al. A comparative review on energy storage systems and their application in deregulated systems. Batteries. 2022;8.9:124.

12. Hussain SMS, et al. IEC 61850 based energy management system using plug-in electric vehicles and distributed generators during emergencies. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst. 2020;119:105873.

13. Hussain SMS, et al. Optimal energy routing in microgrids with IEC 61850 based energy routers. IEEE Trans Ind Electron. 2019;67(6):5161–5169.

14. Latif A, et al. Double stage controller optimization for load frequency stabilization in hybrid wind-ocean wave energy based maritime microgrid system. Appl Energy. 2021;282:116171.

15. T.S. Ustun, R.H. Khan, A. Hadbah, A. Kalam, An adaptive microgrid protection scheme based on a wide-area smart grid communications network, in: Proceedings of the IEEE Latin-America Conference on Communications, IEEE, 2013, November, pp. 1–5.

16. Hussain SMS, Farooq SM, Ustun TS. Analysis and implementation of message authentication code (MAC) algorithms for GOOSE message security. IEEE Access. 2019;7:80980–80984.

17. Ustun TS, Farooq SM, Hussain SMS. A novel approach for mitigation of replay and masquerade attacks in smartgrids using IEC 61850 standard. IEEE Access. 2019;7:156044–156053.

18. S.M. Farooq, S.M.S. Hussain, T.S. Ustun, Elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) certificate based authentication scheme for advanced metering infrastructure, in: Proceedings of the Innovations in Power and Advanced Computing Technologies (i-PACT), Vol. 1, IEEE, 2019.

19. Ustun TS, Hussain SS, Ulutas A, Onen A, Roomi MM, Mashima D. Machine learning-based intrusion detection for achieving cybersecurity in smart grids using IEC 61850 GOOSE messages. Symmetry. 2021;13(5):826.

20. Ustun TS, Hussain SS, Yavuz L, Onen A. Artificial intelligence based intrusion detection system for IEC 61850 sampled values under symmetric and asymmetric faults. IEEE Access. 2021;9:56486–56495.

Chapter 2

Wide area protection in modern power systems

K. Al-Maitah¹ and A. Al-Odienat²,    ¹Electricity Distribution Company, EDCo, Technical section, Aqaba, Jordan,    ²Scientific Research, Electrical Power Systems, Mut’ah University, AL-Karak, Jordan

Abstract

Conventional protection devices, which mainly use local measurements, are facing new challenges in performing their work. These challenges are increasing due to the power system expansion, the presence of a large scale of renewable energy sources, bidirectional flow of current, etc. Power systems are witnessing a shift from the traditional power networks to the smart grid, characterized by distributed energy resources, implying a bidirectional flow of energy. Therefore the power grids need to evolve to properly handle this shift and to support the innovative solutions implemented in the system. Protective devices need particular attention to ensure successful coordination.

Keywords

Wide-area protection; conventional protection devices; renewable energy sources; wide-area measurement systems; phasor measurement units; supervisory control and data acquisition

2.1 Introduction

Conventional protection devices, which mainly use local measurements, are facing new challenges in performing their work. These challenges are increasing due to the power system expansion, the presence of a large scale of renewable energy sources (RESs), bidirectional flow of current, etc. Power systems are witnessing a shift from the traditional power networks to the smart grid, characterized by distributed energy resources, implying a bidirectional flow of energy. Therefore the power grids need to evolve to properly handle this shift and to support the innovative solutions implemented in the system. Protective devices need particular attention to ensure successful